Life with our little prince has been an adventure from the beginning. The surprise pregnancy, the surprise that he was a prince, and finally the big surprise, he had a cleft lip and possible cleft palate. On Dec. 8th 2008 (my 20 week ultra/sound) we were told that we would have to do a repeat u/s because the u/s tech was unable to see the babies nose or upper lip. We were told not to worry that everything was probably ok it was just that the babies head was in a bad position. Finally after 4 long weeks, we had a repeat u/s. It was now Jan 8th 2009. As the u/s tech redid the exam, I noticed the baby had a cleft lip. The tech didn't even notice. After I said a few times that the baby had a cleft and laid there with tears streaming down, she finally called in another u/s tech. Later I found most clefts are not detected by 2D u/s. In fact the second u/s tech had been doing u/s for over 30 years and that was the first cleft she had seen on u/s. After 45 min of u/s the radiologist was called in the verify what we saw. He informed Cameron and I that it looked like a possible cleft lip. About 2 hrs later, I received a phone call from my OB. She told me the baby definitely had a cleft lip and would need to refer me to a perinatologist. It was at this point that I told a hand full of family and friends. We did not mention this to our children or the rest of our family and friends because we weren't sure how to handle it ourselves. I thought I finally would be able to tell everyone before he was born, but I never found the words to say or how to say it. We were finally able to tell our children about a month before he arrived. We still weren't sure if his palate was going to be affected, and we wouldn't know until he was born. The biggest prayer going up now was that he would be able to eat on his own, without the help of a feeding tube.
On Thursday March 26th 2009, a group of friends and my sister threw me the most amazing baby shower. I was in shock at the amount of people who came to support us. The support was simply overwhelming. He got so many cute outfits, blankets, and accessories. Not to mention the fabulous swing and money. WOW - was the baby and I ever spoiled on that night!!! I guess every one was just excited I was finally having a boy :)
On Friday March 27th 2009 labor began but didn't end until Monday March 30th 09 at 11:30 am. Beaudrick Samuel Grant was a special gift of God (this is were the name Samuel comes from). After a quick evaluation, it was determined his upper palate (roof of his mouth) was closed. THANK GOD!!!! However, he did have a gap on his gum line. We are not sure how this will be corrected, but it more than likely won't be until he is 7 years old since it is bone (and not soft tissue) that still has much growing to do.
Tomorrow Beaudrick will meet with a panel of cleft lip/palate nurse coordinators, a genetics Dr., some social workers, and a speech therapist. On May 6th 09 he will meet with several Doctors and surgeons. It is at this time, that we will know more or less when his surgeries will be. It looks like his first surgery will be to correct his cleft lip when he reaches about 10 lbs. as long as he is healthy with no sickness. Because of this, he will not attend Church until his first surgery is complete. Please help us pray for him to remain healthy and for a good outcome. Until then, I will try to keep every one update through my blog.
Thanks for all the love, support, and prayers from all our friends. We wouldn't have been able to stay strong with out God and you all. We Love You All!!!!
